UPDATE 1-Genco fourth-quarter profit rises, shares up

(Recasts; adds details, share movement)

Feb 13 (Reuters) - Dry bulk carrier Genco Shipping & Trading Ltd (GNK.N: Quote, Profile, Research) reported fourth-quarter earnings that beat market expectations, helped by a larger fleet and higher freight rates.

Fourth-quarter earnings were $33.5 million, or $1.16 a share, excluding a gain on sale of its ship Genco Commander, compared with $16.5 million, or 65 cents a share in the year-ago period.

Revenue rose 84 percent to $65.7 million.

Analysts on average were expecting earnings of $1.02 a share, before items, on revenue of $67.3 million, according to Reuters Estimates.

Quarterly average daily time charter equivalent rate -- a measure of vessel hire rates -- rose 52.4 percent to $31,140 per day, compared with $20,435 a day in the year-ago period.

The increase in the average charter equivalent rates in the fourth quarter were due to higher charter rates achieved for five Handysize vessels, four Panamax vessels and three Handymax vessels, the company said.

The increase in the average charter rates were also due to the operation of four Capesize vessels, part of the Metrostar acquisition, it added.

Shares of the company were trading up $2.16, or 3.9 percent, at $57.25 in after-hours trade on the New York Stock Exchange. (Reporting by Sakthi Prasad in Bangalore; Editing by Jarshad Kakkrakandy)